Over the last two decades traditional peer review in radiology has largely followed the model set by the American College of Radiology’s Rad Peer Program.
Random cases are designated for review by a peer radiologist who then expresses his agreement or disagreement with the original reader. The initial emphasis was on scoring and statistics to reflect the “performance” of a practice or individual radiologists.
Our approach since inception in 2011 has been on External Peer Review of cases with an emphasis on education. We feel this offers an unbiased approach compared to Internal Peer Review where cases are reviewed only by practitioners within the same practice.
In recent years, there has been a surge of literature less on scoring and statistics and more on a collegial Peer Learning model where the emphasis is on feedback to the individual radiologist and education that benefits the entire practice.
At the Radiology Peer Review Panel (or RPRP), we offer to assist you in establishing whatever you feel is required and / or beneficial for your particular imaging practice: Standard Peer Review Model , a Peer Learning Program, or both.
The ACR has set requirements for Peer Learning Physician Quality Assurance Pathway for Accreditation, and we can help you establish a Peer Learning program to meet these requirements.
We can help you establish a hybrid Peer Learning Process that incorporates Peer Review of cases from various sources, feedback to the radiologist on reviewed cases, and opportunities for the practice as a whole to learn from reviewed cases.
The goal is establishing a culture of learning.
How We Do Traditional Peer Review in Radiology
RETROSPECTIVE PEER REVIEW or REACTIVE PEER REVIEW
Here adverse trends or specific problem cases have been suspected or identified, and objective, external , unbiased and confidential peer review is desired. These cases are reviewed with the clinical indications of the study, and scoring is provided based on the degree of agreement or disagreement with the initial reading. Comments are made where appropriate.
PROSPECTIVE PEER REVIEW OR PROACTIVE PEER REVIEW
Here a percentage of cases are randomly chosen, to reflect the case mix of the radiologist and practice. These cases are reviewd by peers who compare their findings with those reported by the reading Radiologist. Each case is scored based on the level of agreement and/or the significance of any discrepancy. Each significant discrepancy is further scored based on the type of discrepancy, with comments provided for the significant discrepancies. Statistics are then provided for each radiologist being reviewed and for the practice as a whole. If any trends are noted additional comments and educational suggestions may be provided.
Also, we can offer a hybrid of internal and external peer review programs. We can help establish a program utilizing internal peer review, either with RadPeer or with our proprietary system; and to provide the unbiased element of external review, we can provide random reviews of some of the internally reviewed cases.
Our goal is EDUCATIONAL not punitive.
The feedback we provide is CONFIDENTIAL, for internal quality assurance use by those requesting the reviews.
How We Devise Peer Learning Programs:
We act as consultants to tailor a Peer Learning Program to meet the needs of your practice or imaging department / center based on the ACR requirements for accreditation.
